To Build a Home
by https-fern
Summary: Sirius Black never thought he would live up to the expectations of becoming a married man with a family to take care of, but the First Wizarding War made him pay too much for that. Now, 19 years later, single father of twins and just coming back to a normal life after the death of Voldemort, he realized that he wasn't over his past yet. Blackinnon AU
1. Chapter 1

Throughout the years, Sirius Black had grown used to the sound of doors slamming, hushed argues and stomps up the stairs, but that time he was actually concerned about the commotion going on upstairs.

Being a father of twins was not something he thought he would be, even less a single parent, but he took the job pretty well. Lyra and Alya Black had the same features, but their resemblances stopped right there; while one was brunette, the other was blonde. One seemed calm enough, until put under pressure. The other was a walking storm, but tended to remain calm when needed. While Alya was seen as the "evil" one, those who knew the girls knew Lyra was the meanest. Surely, a lot of argues and fights had broken out between the two of them, but none seemed to last for long or to be vicious, as they had grown to be not only twins, but best friends.

Having that in mind, Sirius was completely confused with all the silence in his house that Saturday morning. It wasn't that early (when was he ever up before 10 a.m. on weekends?), but the lack of voices astonished him. Normally, by that time, Lyra and Alya would be already awoken, running up and down the stairs, failed whispers coming from them. That day, however, the house they had lived for the past 17 years - and seen a lot of shouts - was immersed in the most complete silence.

The first thought to ever cross his mind was that something had happened to them. The horrors of the war still plaged his mind and his heart wasted no time in going cold, freezing him in place. Moments later, he remembered it was over. Voldemort had been dead for a couple of months. The followers who had scattered away had Aurors hot on their trail, Sirius had made sure of that. With a sigh of relief, he made his way upstairs, his steps lightly echoing throughout the wood stair.

What he didn't expect, however, was the sight that greeted him outside Lyra's door. She was there, her hair tousled, her face marked from the pillows and the long t-shirt she used as pajamas was slightly out of place. She had been sleeping, alright, and it should be enough to calm Sirius' heart, at least a little bit, but it didn't. And it wasn't because she looked a mess compared to all the other mornings, but because there was someone behind her, his head facing the inside of the room while his hands ran through his messed up hair.

"Are you sure?" the guy asked, his eyes still averted to the inside of the room, his back to Sirius, completely unaware of him being there.

"Absolutely," Lyra said back. She was looking at the boy, a small smile on her lips, her features carefree. If there was anything he couldn't deny was how much she seemed happy. For the first time in a long while, he could see his daughter acting her age. Surely, though, he didn't like the fact that there was a boy coming out of her room. "He shouldn't be up for another hour or so. You have plenty of time."

"I don't like this one bit, Lya," the brunette boy said once again, his feet finally leading him to the hallway. His whiskey eyes showed some kind of remorse and worry, like he had been doing this way too many times. "Next time, we're going back to my place. My dad wouldn't kill you."

Sirius heard a muffled laugh come from Lyra and he could picture her rolling her eyes. She was about to turn around and see him standing there, but something stopped her. Better yet, someone.

"You know I love you, but this is getting a bit ridiculous," the boy said once again, one of his hands closing around the girl's wrist and pulling her towards him. "We're both 18 and we've known each other since always. Do you really think your dad would be that mad at us?"

Sirius let out a sigh, taking silent steps back until he reached the staircase again, and walked back to the living room, his thoughts consuming him once more.

There was a time where he'd storm into the middle of that conversation and put Lyra 50 meters away from John. His arms would be all over the place, his voice would carry away and from the same way he came, a blonde head would appear, yelling at him for being so dramatic and having no sense of privacy whatsoever. In this scenario, he'd be freaking out over the fact that his little girl – whether she was 8 or 18 – had made her long term boyfriend sleepover.

It wasn't like he didn't know about them, because he did. He remembered vividly the time Lyra and Alya said anything about dating and having boyfriends, he only chose to neglect it.

Sirius had pushed back the feeling he got when he heard his daughters were 'going out' with guys. He knew it was bound to happen sometime, but didn't want to believe that it was already going on. They weren't kids anymore, even if he liked to believe so, but it still caused some kind of anger inside of him, knowing that some guy could just go up and close to his daughters and end up stealing them from him. It didn't help that one of them was the son of one of his best friends.

He always knew John and Lyra were close, always hanging out and being there for each other. Even more after they got into Hogwarts, each of them being sorted into different Houses. It was like they were making up for that, like the amount of time spent together out of school wasn't enough. He never questioned it, though. The years had been rough on them with the girls never knowing their mother and John losing his at only 13.

His track of thought got lost as soon as he heard footsteps entering the living room, him sitting directly to the base of the stair, catching Lyra's wide open eyes and John's terrified look.

"D-Dad!" the girl said. "Hi. What are you doing up so early?"

Sirius looked from her to the clock on the wall, then back at her, one eyebrow up.

"Early?" he questioned, his tone somber. "You might have lost track of time, sweetheart." He went on, his eyes never leaving hers or John's, who was still squirming behind her. "Good morning, John."

The boy did nothing other than just nod his head in Sirius' direction, his eyes scanning the floor like it needed his undivided attention. If it were possible, they would be able to hear the young boy's heart hammering against his ribcage and the sweat drops forming on his forehead. John Lupin was close to having a heart attack and little did he know that Sirius felt the same way.

The silence in the room was palpable, making the tension grow heavier among them. Sirius Black kept staring at his daughter and his best friend's son, both of them holding hands and their heads hanging low. John wanted nothing more than to just be swallowed by the floor while Lyra kept forcing her brain to come up with a plausible lie that would make her father believe whatever she said. It wasn't easy, she realized after a few seconds. She was caught red-handed and there was no way out of it.

"Does it help if I say this is not what you think it is?" she asked tentatively, her eyes squinting.

"And what do you think I think it is?" Sirius asked back, his arms crossing over his chest. It was a simple action, almost absentminded for him, but something that made John grow anxious. He knew that gone was the man who he called 'uncle' and a very angry father, head of the Auror Department, was in front of him.

"That I may, or may not, have done something really stupid." The black haired girl said back, her shoulders dropping and head shaking. "Which I did not, may I add." She completed hurriedly.

Sirius wanted to chuckle and shake his head. He had lost count of how many times he had been caught in the same situation as the two in front of him. He remembered being lectured countless times by a very worried Mrs. Potter, saying how she wished he could be a little less reckless and tried to knock some sense into Marlene too, as she was always involved in this kind of trouble. He remembered a particularly time where he had sneaked to her house so many times that it actually got him caught, ending up being grounded and not allowed out of the house for at least a month. He also remembered how it didn't work out that good and Marlene showing up on his window, hovering on a broomstick, the wind going through her blonde hair, on her face a smirk upon seeing him enclosed in his own room. But Sirius also knew that he had to be stern. He didn't want that to happen under his watch to any of his daughters. He couldn't do anything that would give someone else a slight chance of winning them over.

"Have I ever told you the story of the time I got grounded for sleeping with your mom?" he asked after a few moments of silence, a deep sigh coming out of him.

Lyra blinked a couple of times, not really sure what was happening at the moment.

"What does this have to do with anything?" she asked taking a step closer to John. At that time, she seriously thought her father had lost it.

"Well, if you just wait..." Sirius said while taking a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts to himself and organize them before telling the story. "Back when we were in school, your mom lived with her parentes in Scotland." He started with a grin. "We had grown used to having each other around, so it was kind of weird sleeping on my own and having so much alone time. Obviously, I thought it was a good idea to sneak out and visit. Every single night during the summer."

Lyra blinked a few times, engrossed in the story about her dad's past. The past where her mother was still alive and her dad probably didn't have the sad look on his face he always seemed to have. She wanted to know where this story was leading to.

"Eventually, I got caught, no surprise there, and was sentenced to spend the entire month in the house, not allowed to do anything other than what I was asked. It wasn't because of pure stiffness from the Potters, but because we were living under the constant fear of a war raging on. It didn't help that any of us cared about it. All that mattered was living as if there was no tomorrow," Sirius sighed. "So, obviously, your mom thought that there would be no harm in just showing up outside my windon one afternoon, laughing at my face and offering some company. One thing lead to another and next thing you know, Mrs. Potter is walking in on us."

"Oh, wow, dad. You were so punk rock." The girl stated and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Not the point," he said waving his hands. "The thing is... I know what it's like to be young and want to live your on life, but for as long as you live with me, you're going to have to follow my rules. I don't ask for much, kiddo, and I'm not gonna yell at you two or punch John in the face, _even if I really want to_ ," he completed with a murderous look to the boy. "But I know that forbidding you or grounding you is not gonna have any effect. Just, please, if you can spare me, do it. Wait for a day I'm not around, or when I have to work through the night, ok?"

Lyra kept looking at her father for a few seconds. Never, in a billion years, she would have thought he would be so calm and understanding like this. She had pictured him marching up to them, slamming John against a wall and yelling at his face for corrupting his little girl – when clearly it had been the other way around – and then Apparating to his house, only to punch uncle Remus in the face just because he was related to the boy. That was the kind of reaction worthy of a very angry and very dramatic Sirius Black. To say that she was beyond surprised was the understatement of the year. The fact that he left the living room shortly after that, not saying any other word, contributed to it.

* * *

Sometimes, Alya wanted to punch her sister in the face. But not just some light hit or a game between siblings. Oh, no. She wanted to hit Lyra square in the nose and then shake her shoulders violently, trying to knock (quite literally) some sense into her twin. How could have she managed to screw things up so easily?

"Ok... How the hell did Dad find out?" she asked one more time, losing her short temper due to the fact that Lyra hadn't answered her yet.

"I overslept, ok?" she said with a sigh. "I know it's a lame excuse and all, but honestly, Aly, I was really sleep deprived after all those months of running for my life. We didn't even do anything. We just slept, literally. I lost track of time and didn't realize Dad would be up already," she explained. "Tell me, Alya, how was I supposed to know?"

Alya thought about how to answer that question and the truth was that she didn't know. She couldn't deny that the war had taken a toll on all of them, running to save their lives while worrying about everyone they cared about. It wasn't an easy year for anyone. She, sometimes, woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, vivid dreams about her days as a war fugitive coming back to her, the menace of the snatchers lurking in every corner as well as the fear of not living to see another day.

Being so, she couldn't really blame her sister for having overslept in the comfort of her bedroom, without being afraid of dying that night, with the man she loved right by her side. It would be too insensitive.

"Ok," Alya breathed out. "It happened and he didn't freak out that much. We can deal with it. It's not like you would go and have some hot sex with John for Dad to hear," she shrugged. "Right?"

"Merlin, Aly, of course not. What do you take me for?" Lyra shot completely taken aback. She would never do something like that to anyone. Ever.

"Just checking," her twin said, her hands up in surrender. "You did not sell me out, though, right?"

Lyra fought the urge to roll her eyes. Twice Alya had accused her of doing something she would never be capable of doing in less than one minute. If they weren't sisters, she'd probably hexed her by now.

"What you do, or do not, in your free time is none of my concern," she started, her fingers tapping against the wood table in the dining room. "So, as long as you don't kill someone, I will not mention a word about you fucking Malfoy, ok?"

"Merlin's pants, Lyra," the blonde girl laughed. "Did someone piss on your cereal today? Is someone not doing their job properly in bed?"

"Yeah, right, cause that's my problem and not you being so obnoxious today."

Alya let out a breathy laugh and shook her head. Her sister's bad humor really wasn't something to mess with, but she couldn't help herself.

"I still don't get it," she said sitting across from Lyra, her laugh gone.

"What?"

"You could have any guy, literally any guy, at Hogwarts or anywhere and you went for the Ravenclaw Pride boy. Why?

Lyra stared ahead, her eyes losing focus as she thought in a way to reply it. Yes, Alya had had relationships before, but she never admited, or never allowed, them to be more than casual hookups. Something to difuse the tension, she had said. It was never something meaningful, never lasting more than a couple of months. It was obvious she wouldn't understand what Lyra felt.

"I don't know," she began, a smile playing in the edges of her lips. "It's just... Everything seems better when we're together. I feel my heart racing when he's around, my stomach drops, my hands get sweaty and, suddenly, nothing else matters. I just love him, Aly. A lot."

A lingering silence fell upon them. Lyra was much too lost in her memories and in her feelings for the Lupin boy while Alya was trying to understand it all. She had never had that, being too much of a high maintenance for anyone to last. She knew it, but she didn't care. She was not looking for romance. She wasn't the kind of person who wanted to grow up, meet someone, fall in love, get married, have kids and the grow old by their lover's side. It was a concept she never understood, unlike Lyra, but she couldn't deny it was a valid one. Alya knew her sister had become a much better person after she and John finally admitted their feelings for each other, how happy she seemed to be out of nowhere and how Alya wanted to throw up at the smallest display of affection.

Then it hit her and her sister's words echoed in her mind.

"Oh my Merlin, I can't believe we never thought about it," she said loudly, startling Lyra.

"What's going on?"

"Don't you get it?," Alya plastered a wicked grin. "You said that when you're with John, nothing else matters, right?" Lyra only nodded. "And I see how lost in the world you get and all that lovey dovey crap," at this point, she was out of her seat, pacing around in the dining room. "So why don't we get Dad a girlfriend? I mean, he'd be over the moon, dacing on table tops, not having a worry in the world and, obviously, cutting us some slack, not being around us all the time."

"Honestly, Alya," Lyra began with a roll of eyes. "This is the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard. Don't you think that, by now, if he wanted, he would have a girlfriend?"

"Lyra, you know how he's all full of crap. I heard him once, telling uncle James that he didn't think it would be fair on us, cause he didn't want us to feel like we were replacing mom," she rolled her eyes this time. "As if we even remembered her. I say we go for it. The man is in great need."

The thought wasn't that crazy, Lyra pondered. Sirius Black had never been with any other woman in 17 years. He had dedicated all this time to his daughters, educating them, helping them when they needed, but now they were old enough to make their own decisions, old enough to make their own mistakes. It was time for him to finally live his life.

With a devious smile, Lyra finally nodded at her sister's direction, silently agreeing with her and already compiling a plan.


	2. Chapter 2

"You do realize you're being ridiculous, right?

While operation 'Find Dad a Girlfriend' was definitely a go and completely oblivious to the most important person involved, Sirius spent his time sat across a giggly James and a reasonable looking Lily. Of course the Black male had to get out of the house as soon as he was done talking to his daughter. Of course he chose to go to his best friends' house and, of course, he had told them exactly what he had seen that morning. What he didn't expect, however, was for them to completely roll their eyes at him and, in James' case, laugh at his serious problem.

"Excuse me?" Sirius said turning to Lily, one eyebrow up. If he were standing up, he'd be full mode with his hands on his waist, looking her dead in the eye. "What are you implying here, Evans?"

Lily just rolled her eyes. 19 years since she had last used this name and he still insisted on calling her that. Maybe it was in old times sake, she couldn't quite be sure, but, despite her outside reaction, she felt warm inside whenever he called her that. It made her feel like they were 17 again and didn't have a care in the world. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel like they were back at Hogwarts. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter causing havoc everywhere, pulling pranks on anyone they set their eyes on, but, yet again, surprising everyone at how smart they could really be.

But if she opened her eyes, it dawned on her how much things had changed. They weren't teenagers anymore. They weren't at Hogwarts and there wasn't 4 Marauders anymore. The war, Voldemort, had taken it away from them. And in those few seconds, where everything came flooding back into her mind, she slightly hated the fact that Sirius still referred to her as 'Evans'. She knew he meant it in the most adorable way, as he had always called her that, but it also remembered her of how much they had lost over the years.

"I didn't spend six years and a half trying to convince her to go out with me and then, finally, marrying her to have you calling Lily 'Evans', mate," James said from his side of the table, a grin still visibly on his face, his eyes gleaming with mischief. Even after all those years, that side of him (along with Sirius') was not lost.

"Not the point," Lily said waving her hand dismissively. "The thing is, Sirius, you're overreacting. Alya and Lyra are 18. They're adults and, let's be honest, they are your daughters," she completed, her eyes staring directly at him, smiling as she noticed his reaction.

" _Excuse me_ ," Sirius said once again, his eyebrows frowning.

"Oh, come on," James rolled his eyes. "Remind me again why you broke two ribs back in seventh year, Pads."

Sirius couldn't help the grin that invaded his features. His hands hurriedly moved to his ribcage, brushing against the fabric of his shirt as if the bandages were still there, if the region was still sore even after all those years. The memories came flooding back to his mind, and he knew that any attempt of trying to repress it would be in vain.

* * *

 _He was late. He was incredibly late and he knew it. But even so, Sirius couldn't force himself to detach his arms from around Marlene's waist, his head burried in her neck as he kissed the exposed skin, adding a few soft bites every now and then, her hands roaming all over his back._

 _The small sighes escaping her lips were enough to make him forget all about practice, all about any magical sport. The low sounds were like fuel to him, making Sirius persist at his task of marking the girl all over, something to show everyone how off the limits she was._

" _I should go," he mumbled against her skin, his eyes closed sucking in the feeling her nails scratching against his back provided, a small hiss leaving his lips._

" _Mhmm," she hummered back, her lips now moving to his jaw, completely rejecting every attempt he made of moving._

" _No, I really should," he said once more, his eyes finally opening and gazing her incredibly blue ones. "James is going to kill me."_

" _Let him try," she said back, a devious smirk on her face._

 _When they first started whatever they had between them, Sirius knew he was doomed. He knew he would never be able to resist her ever again from day one, but he didn't care, nor wanted to. The casual hookups then started to be more than just that. They could be seen walking together all day, spending free time together, talking rather than snogging and then, finally, snogging in every bloody corner. It was like Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon had been sewed together over the night and it was hard to see them out of each other's reach._

 _The Hogwarts community was taken by surprise. No one was expecting it to happen, as they could be seen throwing offenses at each other from across the hall and the rumors about the new couple in campus spread like leaves in the autumn breeze._

" _As much as I like to hear that you think I can outlast James in a fight," the boy started with a chuckle. "I don't want to put it to a test. You know how he can be when it comes to Quidditch."_

 _And indeed she knew. Marlene had had her troubles with the Gryffindor Captain more than once. James was absurdly competitive, even more when it involved his team playing against Slytherin, to which she was the Captain of._

 _She knew the black haired boy ever since they were kids and she knew how he hated losing, putting 110% of himself into any match and scolding whoever didn't follow his exemple. Or the ridiculous practicing schedules he came up with. For that reason, she knew it was better if Sirius would just leave the room and go to that pitch, play serious for a couple of hours and then join her back in his bed._

" _He's so sure he can beat me," she said smiling, her arms finally letting go of Sirius and pushing him back slightly. "Are you, Black?"_

" _Don't even try to say you can win this match, McKinnon," he said standing up, his eyes scanning the room in search of his lost jersey. "You can't," he completed._

" _Is that a challenge?" she asked, her eyes gleaming in the dim light of the dorm. "'Cause, if you don't know, you'd have to win by a hundred points to come first."_

 _Sirius smiled at her and shook his head. She had this stupid idea that she could win the Quidditch Cup, but he knew, that even if his team was in second place, there was no way Slytherin would make it. James had pushed them into training way more since Gryffindor had lost against Ravenclaw. The players' sleeping schedule was fucked up, they were training hard and all the time. They knew any other team wouldn't stand a chance against them. It was a fact and Sirius didn't even need to spy on his girlfriend to know it._

" _I won't go easy on you, McKinnon," the boy stated, his hands finally taking a hold of the small pile of clothes he had beside his table, sorting through it and finding his training gear._

" _I don't expect you to," she shrugged. "I'd like to have you at peak performance."_

 _It was incredible how she could change the mood around them with a single sentence. Sirius could detect every kind of meaning behind Marlene's words, every time. Consequently, it wasn't hard to understand what she clearly had meant and while she was talking about Quidditch, she was also talking about something else._

" _Don't worry," he winked. "I'll be back in no time and we can resume whatever we were doing."_

 _The girl casted a glance in his direction, her lips forming a devious smile. She wasn't going to let go of him that easily. She wanted to make him suffer a little bit for leaving her alone in his bedroom, even if it wasn't really his fault. To be honest, it was. Sirius shouldn't have started something he was not going to be able to finish any time soon._

" _Ok," Marlene said rolling out of bed, her hands coming in contact with one of Sirius' white shirt, buttoning it down her frame, her bare legs in his plain sight. "Just keep in mind that I'll be here, all alone, with all this time to spare," she looked at him, her hands running down her body slowly. "In nothing but this white, almost see-through, shirt of yours."_

 _If there was anything in Sirius' mind, it now had fled, leaving him dazzled. How could he resist such a sight right in front of him, so close he could touch it. A lot of promiscuous thoughts were running through his mind that moment. What if he just skipped practice and stayed? He surely saw more effect in being with Marlene. He wanted nothing more than to just run his hands over her body, kiss her mouth until her lips went numb, fuck her until she couldn't take it anymore, only to start it all over again._

" _That's just mean," he managed to say, his mouth dry, his eyes wide. He suddenly was very aware of the unwanted bulge that grew in his pants._

 _With a smirk, Marlene just winked at him and ushered the boy out of the room, not giving him a second glance and closing the door right after he left. To say that Sirius Black was in for an awful practice was the understatement of the year._

 _He didn't know how he reached the pitch. His thoughts were so immersed in the last vision he had seen before leaving, that his brain didn't even acknowledged the fact that his feet were moving._

" _You're so fucking late!" was what greeted him. James was pissed and it was understandable. "I swear to Merlin, Padfoot… If you fuck this up, I'm gonna kill you."_

 _Sirius dismissed it. He was full of James' threats and he knew he'd never really do anything. James Potter was just so set into winning that he didn't know where to stop, never had. No one could blame him, though. The last game was coming up and it was their last year. No one wanted to leave Hogwarts without having the Quidditch Cup._

 _They were training hard that day. There was no going back until they could do every single play correctly, until they've mastered all the positions they should be in. It was already ten past seven. The sun was long gone and the darkness had surrounded them and everyone was tired. The sweat was dripping down their bodies, their hands were cold and their vision was already blurred. The entire team had been playing for the past 3 hours and they weren't expecting James to call the quits any time soon._

 _Sirius wanted nothing more than to just throw a bludger to his best friend's head. He was sore, he was tired and, to be honest, he was horny. And, once again, his mind had wandered to his girlfriend. The image of Marlene in his room had not left his head in any of the time. He could still remember how she looked, her hair in tangles, her plump lips in a pout and her long legs in full display. It was hard to have to play Quidditch while he could be with her, buried in the silk skin of her legs._

 _There should be a warning outside the pitch saying that no one should play without being 100% focused. Maybe there was, but Sirius didn't know and wouldn't even think about it until it was too late. He never saw the bludger coming in his direction, he never heard his team mates yelling at him. All he did was stare into an empty space until he felt something hitting him, full force. His hands lost hold of his broom and soon he was spiriling to the ground._

 _Marlene was bored out of her mind. She had lost count of how many times she had looked at the mirror, fixing her hair and applying a new layer of lipstick while waiting for Sirius. She knew the practice would be ruthless, but it had been almost five hours since he had gone._

 _A rushed knock to the door snapped her out of her thoughts and a worried looking James walked in, startling her even more._

" _You need to come to the hospital wing right now," was the first thing he said once he walked into the room. He ignored the clothes spread around the room and the barely clothed girl in front of him. It was a scene he was, unwillingly, used to at this point._

" _What happened?" the girl asked concerned at the black haired guy's rush._

" _Sirius fell off his broom," he sighed. "Broke two ribs and is being incredibly annoying so, please, just go ease him down."_

 _James Potter should not be the one entrusted to give that kind of news. Had it been anything a little more serious, Marlene would be on the verge of having a heart attack at how subtlety was not a word in the boy's vocabulary. Nevertheless, she threw some clothes on and hurried to the hospital wing in record time, reaching the ward and entering it in under ten minutes._

 _As soon as the door closed behind her back, she could see a very distressed looking Sirius laying in bed, his upper body involved in bandages, his face covered in bruises._

" _Merlin's pants, Black," she murmured as soon as she reached him, her eyes scanning him all over. "All of that just because you were too scared of facing me next week?"_

 _A small chuckle came from the boy, but soon was replaced by a painful grimace, his eyes closing in a feeble attempt of trying to contain it._

" _You wish," he replied in a small voice, his head thrown back._

 _If anyone were to walk in that moment, they would not see Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon. Or at least they wouldn't believe it was them. The couple was leaning into each other, talking in low voices and acting caringly. It was out of the ordinary to see them acting like this, but special times asked for special measures._

" _Are you in much pain?" she asked running her hands through his hair._

" _Only when I breathe," Sirius managed to say through gritted teeth._

 _Nothing more was said between them, Marlene choosing to let him rest while the potions were taking effect. She knew Sirius pretty much and was sure he was going to be whining all the time. It was going to be along night._

* * *

"Ok, ok," Sirius said rolling his eyes. "I get your point. I wasn't the most focused when it came to having a semi-naked Marlene in my room."

Lily looked at both of them and rolled her eyes. She thought she would be used to that by now, but she wasn't.

"No," James shook his head. "My point is you were a little manwhore walking around the grounds. Can you really expect Alya and Lyra to be pure?"

"Yeah, I don't like what you're implying here," the Black male said.

"They're teenagers, Sirius!" Lily said once again, exasperated this time. "Stop acting like they're doing something wrong. They are living their lives and being happy, ok? So suck it up and man up. What would Marlene say?"

The mention of his wife made him stop whatever he was going to say. It was one thing having him mentioning her when they were together, another was to have her mentioned by someone else, asking him what she would do if she was alive. That situation made his heart ache and his mind go blank. It had been years, but the fact that she wasn't around anymore was not something he would ever grow used to.

Lily realized that a bit too late. She saw his eyes cast down and his head shake, but the damage was already done. She couldn't say anything else other than apologize for what she had said. She remembered how extremely hard it was for him. The sleepless nights he spent, not daring to believe a word everyone was saying about her being dead, the amount of time and money he spent on looking for her, how he had almost lost his will to live. If he hadn't the girls, he'd probably not be there.

The tension, however thick, was cut as soon as a stressed looking Remus walked in through the door, his tired frame seeming even more worn out, the bags under his eyes more prominent and his shoulder hanging low. The once young Marauder was the epitome of exhaustion, but as soon as his eyes landed on Sirius, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Did you enjoy scaring my son today, Sirius?" he asked standing by his side.

"He's a bad influence," Sirius limited himself to say, not exactly looking at his friend's direction.

Remus raised his eyebrows, not really believing what he was hearing.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but… Who's coming back to Hogwarts this September?" he pressed. "Who made sure that Lyra wasn't in detention all the time?"

The two men kept looking at each other, no other words coming out of their mouths for they already knew the answers to all of the questions. It's not that there was a good or a bad influence, but when it came to them, the Blacks always seemed to corrupt the Lupins.


	3. Chapter 3

The end of August came all too soon and while some of the people were going back to Hogwarts, even the ones who were supposed to have it finished, it wasn't the case in the Black household. Instead, Alya and Lyra had decided that they had had enough of scholar experiences. For them, it was time to, finally, grow up and work on their career.

It wasn't surprising when Alya chose to follow her father's steps and joined the Aurors. She was fit for the job, focused in the task at hand and there was no doubt that she could live up to the expectations everyone was putting on her.

Lyra, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with that. She had valuable skills to do that job, but it never appealed to her. It didn't matter how anyone told her that being an Auror while being a Legilimens would give her great ability and because of that special skill, she landed a job in the Department of Mysteries, becoming an Unspeakable.

Being the ever so proud dad that he was, Sirius couldn't contain the smile on his face whenever he thought about it. It meant that he had done a good job on his own - something he had feared of not being able to - and that his girls had become, on their own, everything he ever wanted to them: loyal, rightful, intelligent and responsible.

It was funny to think that they had become who they were since he could only think about them as the little girls who used to run all over the house, drawing on the walls and asking so many questions about everything that he couldn't find a proper answer to all of it. If Sirius closed his eyes, he could still see them begging him to take them to the work with him, he could still see the mesmerized look they had whenever he did something to spoil them. It was hard to get rid of the memory of their beaming smiles and gleaming eyes every morning on father's day. How they'd wake up earlier than him, pour cereal and milk in a bowl while attempting to pour juice in a glass without messing everything. He could still hear their soft steps leading to his room, the low giggles and hushed voices as they entered through the door and jumped on the bed, landing on top of him. Sirius couldn't help himself but smile contently at the fact that nothing much had changed over the years. Alya and Lyra had grown up and their personalities had become more evident, but those mornings were still the same, except that now they could make a proper breakfast.

Maybe that was why Sirius found himself in his home office that last day of August, sitting behind his desk, looking intently at the picture his small family had taken in a sunny day they decided to go the beach last summer, before the war had started. His thoughts were too lost in reminiscence, his eyes looking for one photo to the other spread across the room, until his eyes caught the little indentation in one of the cabinets he had. A small laugh escaped his lips and he couldn't help but remember that day.

* * *

 _After an astonishingly long mission, all Sirius Black wanted was to get home safely, take a relaxing shower and be able to spend time with his daughters, thing he hadn't been able to in a few days. He knew they were all moody and upset, but he also knew that, once they became older, they'd understand that everything he was doing was for the solely purpose of giving them a better world to live in. At the age of 5, however, Alya and Lyra Black didn't seem to like this idea in the slight, but that was the price they had to pay for having a father who was one step closer of becoming the newest head of the Auror Office and, alredy having in mind that his presence would be either too claimed or too ignored, Sirius had prepared himself, mentally, for the three of them. For the girls, he had gotten a gift for either of them, once again showing to the world how much he was spoiling them._

 _The scene he was welcomed to certainly made him doubt he had entered the right house. Everything seemed to be the way it was when he left and even if he had some responsible adult looking over them, he didn't expect anyone to know how to deal with those 5 year-old girls._

 _Stepping into the living room, still perplexed with the soundless house, Sirius looked around, until his eyes met a brunette woman coming from the kitchen, a tray of cookies in her hands, and marched up to her, one eyebrow up as he looked confusingly at her._

 _"Sirius!" she beamed once she put the tray down, her eyes finally landing on the young man a few steps away from her. "Didn't hear you coming in. How are you?" she asked with a sincere smile to him, her features showing him how glad she was for his return._

 _"Andromeda," he said with a small smile, his hands reaching for one cookie only to be slapped away. "Hey," he protested. "I thought we were in my house…?"_

 _"Those are for the girls," she said with a roll of eyes. "You are much too old for cookies and milk, Sirius."_

 _The Black man only shook his head and rolled his eyes. Andromeda was his favorite cousin, alright, but she wouldn't take him seriously any time soon. Something about already being around when he was born, she had said, made her more responsible than him, according to the woman._

 _"Where are they?"_

 _"In your office," she said dismissively, not bothering looking up as she heard his steps walking way and into the corridor that led to the room Sirius used as a home office._

 _For most parents, finding their kids playing in their work place would be hell. Papers would be scattered to the floor, important datas would be lost, not to mention the possibility of them going through their work paper and using it to drawing, but for Sirius Black, none of it was of his concern. He made sure to spell-lock everything away, stuffed in the highest cabinet he had in there, because he knew a simple lock wouldn't be able to keep his daughters away from anything._

 _Softly, he opened the wooden door, careful to not make himself known, and his eyes caught sight of a very flustered Alya Black sitting in his chair, multi-colored crayons spread around the table, picking up the ringing phone. It should alarm him, but he knew no one important had this number, especially not from work. It could have been James or Remus, or even one of his friends who knew a little bit about muggle technology, trying to reach him._

 _"Daddy's office?" the girl's childish voice answered, her little fingers gripping the crayon in her hands harder, her eyes squinted as she tried to understand what the person on the other line was saying. "No, daddy's not here," she replied with a roll of eyes, already having no patience. "No, you're a little girl!" she screamed and slammed the phone back down before resuming her drawing duties._

 _"Who was it?" With a small laugh, Sirius walked into the room, his eyes scanning it, not finding Lyra anywhere. She probably was back in her room or something of the kind._

 _Alya's head snapped up at the sound of her dad's voice and the biggest smile she could produce graced her soft features, her eyes widening as she pushed the chair back and jumped down, her short legs propelling her in his direction._

 _"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" the word rolled out of her tongue as if she had never said it before, only to stop when he knelt down in front of her with his arms open, waiting for her to jump into his embrace. "You're back!"_

 _"I am," he said picking her up and spinning around, pulling happy shrieks out of her. "What are you doing?"_

 _"I'm an Auror," she said pointing to the table. "Just like you."_

 _That was the first time Sirius felt his heart swell up. He couldn't stop the smile that came to his face, nor the warm feeling in his chest or the stinging sensation in his eyes. For the first time, he felt like he was doing a good job on them, like he wasn't messing up and that they appreciated having him around._

 _"Oh," he cleaned his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that had formed._ _"And where is your sister?"_

 _"Lya was a Death Eater. I put her in Azkaban," she said with a small shrug, but finally concerning Sirius, who had furrowed his brows and looked intently at the blonde girl in his arms._

 _"And where is it?" he asked already running to the door, worried something had happened to his other daughter._

 _"It's right there, daddy," Alya said pointing to the cabinet on their left._

 _For the first time, Sirius noticed the small knocks against the door and the muffled words coming out of it. Putting Alya down, he took a deep breath, walked up to the furniture and knelt down in front of it, turning the key in the lock._

 _He wasn't ready for what he saw once the door was opened. He knew the girls could get a little too carried away when playing, but he didn't expect them to go this far, even more when they had Andromeda around them. There, in the cabinet, Lyra sat sideways, her back resting against the side of the wooden material and her little shoulders bumping against the door. Her hands were tied with duct tape and her mouth gagged with a t-shirt any of them owned._

 _Desperately, Sirius pulled the girl out and freed her before bringing her closer to him, fully inspecting her in search of any bruises. Once he saw that she was perfectly fine, he pulled her in a tight hug, caressing her head and asking, over and over again, if she was fine, only to be reassured she was._

 _Alya, still having a smile on her face, didn't realize when Lyra was finally out of their father's arms and tackled her to the ground, their tiny bodies tumbling down._

 _"I will kill you!" Lyra bellowed, her breath labored and eyes wide. "That was not funny, Alya!"_

 _Sirius sighed and hurried to them, putting the girls apart and shaking his head. He had missed those kind of confrontations._

* * *

Sirius' thoughts were interrupted by the hushed whispers going on outside his door.

"Do you think he's alright?" Alya asked, her head poking through the door to take a look at her father who, still, had his eyes fixed on the portrait he was holding.

"I guess…?" Lyra said back and followed her sister's actions before realizing they had been caught.

"I'm perfectly fine," Sirius said with a roll of eyes and set the frame down. It seemed like, lately, his mind was wandering off without his consent, throwing him into the memories he praised the most, making him relive everything. It was a good feeling, he knew it, but he couldn't be too much lost into it. He still had many memories to make. "What are you two doing?"

The girls looked at each other and shrugged off. It should have been a sign to him that they were up to something, but his brain chose to ignore it and go along with the game they were playing, unknowingly.

"It kind of is our first day tomorrow," Aly started while sitting on the desk top, her legs dangling.

"Yes…?"

"But we were wondering if it would be ok to go to Platform 9 ¾ and say goodbye to everyone," Lya completed with the puppy eyes she had mastered years ago.

It seemed to be completely unfair how much those two had Sirius wrapped around their fingers. Since the day they were born, he knew it would be a problem. He deemed himself doomed from the moment those two opened their eyes and all he could see was blue, a beautiful, breath-taking cerulean blue instead of a stormy grey.

Only this time, he had to be strong. The girls were adults now and they had to deal with their own responsibilities, be it a hungover (it had happened before) or work.

"I'm sorry," he shook his head. "You two are old enough to know that you can't. It's not like you're asking me to skip school. When you don't show up at work, it reflects on how they see you. You don't want to start off badly, do you?"

Lyra opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to say something, but never finding any valid argument. She knew Sirius was right, but there had to be anything he could do to help them out.

"Aren't you the head of the Auror's Office?" Alya asked, her eyebrows up, implying that he had influence enough to do something about it.

"I am," Sirius started. "And as your boss, Alya, I'm telling you that skipping a work day just because you want to say goodbye to your friends is not something you want to do. As for you, Lyra," he turned to the brunette on his left side. "My hands are tied. You work in another department."

Heaving a sigh, the girls leapt out of their seats in defeat. So far, there weren't much upsides about being a grown up other than being able to make their own decisions.

"Tell you what," Sirius said gaining their attention one more time. "I'll let you out for one hour tomorrow, Aly, if," he said before she could celebrate anything. "you can manage to do everything you're supposed to until 10 am. Deal?"

"Deal!" the girl said way too fast.

"As for you, miss I'm too good to be an Auror," he started turning to Lyra who rolled her eyes. "Regretting your decision already?"

"No," she said with a shrug, for she knew he was trying to get under her skin. Sirius hadn't taken too well the news that she had chose the Department of Mysteries over working with him even after the girl told him it had nothing to do with him.

"Good," he said with a small chuckle. "Because you're going to have to live with this choice for as long as you don't have any other job, but, since I'm feeling rather benevolent today, you can spend the night over at John's," he completed. "Only if you, please, promise me to not utter a word about it whenever I'm in the room. Deal?"

"Deal!" she squealed running up the stairs, almost tripping over her feet, and disappearing into her room.

Sirius and Alya shook their heads at the same time, both of them amused at how little it took the Slytherin girl to squeal like a high school girl in those muggle movies.

"Are you ever going to be like that?" Sirius asked turning to Alya, a smirk playing on his face as he stared at her, waiting for her to slip up and assume something.

"Oh, hell no," she said shaking her head vigorously. "I'd rather be put in Azkaban than acting like a fool like my poor sister."

Sirius laughed at her wholeheartedly. He once had thought like that whenever he saw James running after Lily like a little puppy following his owner, begging for treats. He once thought that people in love were fools waiting to have their lives ruined too.


	4. Chapter 4

_There had to be a reason for Sirius picking that neighborhood, out of all places in the city, to live in, Marlene thought to herself the first time she had seen their new flat. It was far away from everything else in the world, in a highly wooded whereabouts, something she was not expecting to come from her, at the time, boyfriend. Now, one year later, she understood his reasons: there were barely any people living there. You could see a few houses on the other block, but other than that, it seemed like the perfect getaway for a newly wedded couple._

T _he stillness of that morning was lulling Sirius in a deeper slumber, so deep he was oblivious to everything happening around him. The sounds coming from the kitchen, the heating oil popping while the bacon was being fried, the annoying engine of the blender working and the occasional bump of pans as Marlene did her best to make the perfect birthday breakfast._

 _There was a semi sunlight coming through the open curtain in the living room, the lazy glow from the cloudy day reflecting off the tv set, barely seen particles of dust floating around the air, dancing in the gentle breeze coming from the outside. November had only started and the temperature had dropped significantly, but it wasn't enough to let the windows closed just yet. Sirius had always hated the idea of sleeping in a complete sealed room. Something about feeling like it was suffocating, like he needed to feel the air hitting his bare skin._

 _And that was what woke him up on that morning of November 3rd, the first time he'd celebrate his birthday after getting married. It seemed wild to think that Sirius Black, among all people, had settled down and found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but no one could deny the spark in his eyes anytime he caught sight of Marlene McKinnon entering the room. It was like he was blind to anyone else and his vision tunneled and nothing else existed. He loved her and after trying to deny it so vehemently, he was tired of hiding his feelings. He knew it was a reciprocal feeling, he was very aware of it. Marlene posed as someone who was above everyone else, like she didn't need anyone and while half of that was true, she found in Sirius someone she could be her true self, someone she could turn to when in need. They had been oblivious to all that, hiding under layers of disdain towards each other, but it took only a few hookups to finally understand that they weren't much different from each other._

 _Stretching out and suppressing a yawn, Sirius threw his duvet aside, his barefoot touching the wooden floor, his naked torso shivering in contact with the cool air coming from outside. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, the young Black made his way from the bedroom to the kitchen, silently walking over piles of clothes careless discarded on the floor._

 _The flat smelled deliciously, that he was sure of. The scent of bacon made its way to his nostrils and Sirius smiled inwardly, finally reaching his destination, his arms snaking around Marlene's waist, his head dropping to the curve where her neck met her shoulders, a small sigh escaping his lips as he kissed the tender skin he was so fond of._

 _"Good morning," his voice sounded huskier in the morning, something Marlene found very hard to resist._

 _"What are you doing up so early?" her neck had craned to the side granting him further access. His kisses felt like fire on her skin. Even the smallest touches gave her a surge of energy, like every pore of her skin had been awakening after a very long sleep. And it didn't matter how many times Sirius had kissed her or touched her, Marlene would never get used to it. It was like she was an addict, needing higher doses of a specific drug._

 _"The curtains were open and suddenly the room became too clear for me," he mumbled, his lips turning into a lopsided smile. "What are you doing?"_

 _"A lot of things you shouldn't know about," she turned in his arms, her eyes finally meeting his. There was in glint in them, despite his still sleepy state, and she could tell it was warm and welcoming. "But I'm not telling you."_

 _Sirius laughed and shook his head. It wasn't abnormal to find her in this position, a spatula in her hands, being trapped between his body and the counter sink. It was a daily occurrence, a routine he would never get enough. In those early hours of the morning, he finally felt like he had some kind of purpose, like his life had finally found its place in the world. And each day he wanted nothing more than to just go home to see her curled up against their couch, several parchments spread around the living room while she worked herself up over the deadline the Daily Prophet had given her._

 _"Don't you think I can work my way around it?" he winked, his smile never leaving his face as he saw her features scrunch up._

 _"Not if you stay in your human form," she shook her head. Marlene should have been used to it by that time. Whenever she tried to cook something to surprise him, there was Padfoot walking around the flat, his tail swinging from side to side, dog fur everywhere. He'd sniff around for a few seconds and come back to normal, a smug smile plastered on his face as he told her everything she was preparing. While some of the time Sirius transforming into a dog was cool, when it came to these occasions, she hated it. Marlene was tired of him ruining her surprises. "And yes, this is me forbidding you to do so." She completed._

 _Despite his previous thoughts, however, Sirius decided to listen to her. He knew she would, most likely, kill him if he did it so it was only a matter of self preservation._

 _"I'll just sit here," he started pointing to the chair at the small table they had in the kitchen. "While you finish the bacon and the pancakes."_

 _"You're not worth of my effort, Black," she shook her head and sighed._

 _"What? I smelled the bacon from the room," he complained, his hands going up in a surrender motion._

 _"And what's your excuse for the pancakes?"_

 _"Every time there's bacon, there're pancakes."_

 _She turned her back to the stove, her eyes scanning over his face suspiciously. She was going to accept that excuse for the time being, but there was an obvious warning behind her cerulean eyes that he could not miss. Had he tried anything else, she'd end his life, even if it were his birthday._

 _"Why did I even marry you, McKinnon?" he shook his head, an amused undertone in his voice._

 _"You claim you love me," she shrugged back, her eyes already averted to the food being prepared. "Having second thoughts?"_

 _"Not really loving or feeling loved in the past ten minutes," he answered back. "No happy birthday wishes so far, but tons of death threats."_

 _Marlene chuckled and rolled her eyes. She knew he was an overdramatic person, even more in the mornings, but having Sirius complaining about lack of 'happy birthday' wishes, when he had been awake for less than 30 minutes was something she didn't know he was capable of._

 _"Only and exclusively because you wanted to ruin my plan," she retorted. "But if you wait just a couple of minutes, you'll get it."_

 _And a couple of minutes was all it took for her to finish everything, float the dishes around the kitchen and place them in the table, Sirius' mind already forgetting everything else when he saw the food in front of him. It was a real treat, a small feast for him with everything he liked the most._

 _The young Black flashed a smile towards the blonde girl, his arms reaching out and closing around her waist, pushing her to him. She wasn't expecting the tug and found herself falling on his lap. A small chuckle left her lips and she sighed in content. They had never been the usual couple, with romantic dates and public declarations of love, but there were special times that called for that. It seemed to make those events even more personal._

 _Marlene's eyes searched for Sirius' grey ones and she smiled. Everything around them seemed so out of place, so wrong and dangerous. She was scared of what was to come, but when she looked into his eyes, tempestuous and calm at the same time, she felt her worries disappear and her heart race, but in a complete different way._

 _"What?" he asked curiously._

 _"I have a surprise," her eyes moved to the other side of the room, searching for something._

 _"I thought this," he motioned to the food in front of them. "Was the surprise."_

 _"Another one, then." Marlene disengaged herself from his arms, her feet leading her to the writing desk on the far corner of the living room. She reached something behind it and went back to Sirius, a small white box in her hands. "Open it."_

 _His fingers grasped roughly the small cardboard box, untying the handmade bow and opening the lid hurriedly, peering into it eagerly._

 _"Marls...?" he confusingly raised one eyebrow, his hand pulling a soft tiny yellow sock from it. "What...?"_

 _"It means exactly what you're thinking it means," she said, her breath stuck in her throat, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She was beyond scared of his reaction, his wordless self worrying her._

 _The quietness in the flat seemed to weight down on Marlene's shoulders. She could feel her heart beating erratically and the color leaving her face as she waited for Sirius to say something, anything at all._

 _Sirius, on the other hand, didn't know what to say. He was swirling in a mix of emotions, drowning in feelings, and each time he went to the surface, it wouldn't last and a new wave of wordlessness would engulf him, bringing him down, making him seem lost to the world around him. Finally, as if some miracle had happened and he had clung to a life-saving buoy, he blinked furiously and a smile broke through his face, his big hand closing the small sock around it as he pulled Marlene into him, his lips finding hers in a euphoric kiss._

 _There could be a war ranging on outside, but, for the moment, it could wait._

* * *

Sirius awoke with a start, his heart beating alarmingly fast and his head snapping from side to side until he realized where he was and that all of it was nothing more than his subconscious mind trying, once more, to crush his feeling and rip his heart out of his chest. Another year had come and gone and another time it had succeeded.

He closed his eyes and let go against his bed again, his weight falling on the soft surface with a deaf thump, and ran his hands over his face, feeling the wet patches under his eyes that never seemed to leave this permanent state. 19 years since that memory had happened, but it liked to come back and haunt him every birthday.

The noise downstairs startled him once more on that Tuesday morning and he remembered that, unlike the dream, he had two girls waiting for him in the kitchen, their smiles welcoming him. They didn't know the struggle that was every November 3rd. They didn't know how hard it was to get off the bed after that dream that plagued him, but he didn't care. He would, once again, put on a brave façade, conjure the brightest smile he could and walk down the stairs to greet them. After all, those girls were the only happy thing he had in his life and he couldn't bear to watch them upset over him.

And there, one floor below him, Alya and Lyra Black rushed around the kitchen, their coordinated movements preventing them from any accident that could have happened. They had a system that should not be messed with, something that had been working perfectly for years.

"Did you set the table?" Lyra asked from the oven, her eyes moving to her right, watching Alya standing in the doorway that led to the dining room, a long table prepared behind her.

"Yep," she said with a genuine smile, walking to the fridge and taking a jar of juice from it. "I think he should be down any minute. Everything ready?"

Lyra sighed deeply and prayed the cake she had in the oven was finally baked. Slowly, she crouched down and opened the front door, her fingers crossed and hoping for the best. She wasn't disappointed when she tested it with a fork, it coming off clean. The girl turned the oven off, her hands protected with cooking gloves, and set the cake on the counter. By the time they were done with breakfast, it would have cooled down enough.

The steps on the staircase did not go unnoticed by the girls, who tried their best to contain their excited giggles. It wasn't a surprise anymore, but there was no way they wouldn't act like it wasn't.

"Happy birthday!" They bellowed as soon as Sirius walked into the dining room, his lips turning into an instant smile when he saw everything they had done. In those moments, he always realized that it wouldn't matter how many times his mind tried to put him down, Alya and Lyra would always be there to pull him back up, even if they didn't know it.

"Are you feeling old yet?" Alya beamed dancing on the balls of her feet, an easy smile on her face. She was kidding, right?

"Aly..." Lyra rolled her eyes but gave out a small laugh, her hands going over her mouth trying to contain it. "Any plans for today?"

"Well," Sirius started, his eyes moving from one girl to the other. "After a long and exhausting day at work, I intend to spend the rest of the night with my two favorite girls. Any objections?"

By the way they looked at him, it was obvious that they didn't.

* * *

There were papers everywhere, people walking up and down and voices echoing throughout the atrium. Sirius walked hurriedly to the elevator, not paying much attention to anything around him. He barely saw James running to catch up, yelling his name in a feeble attempt of drawing Black's attention.

"You're barely 39 and already showing signs of deafness, Padfoot?" the black haired man asked, his arm clasping around his friend's shoulder in a side hug, a smiling forming on his face.

Sirius just rolled his eyes. He was used to the jokes by this point, having to deal with it ever since they all became friends, and just shrugged it off with a small smile despite his previous reaction.

"I'm not the one with bald spots in my head, Prongs."

The sound coming from James couldn't be classified as humanly possible. His hands darted to his head, running through it a few times before realizing he was being played. There was nothing out of place or missing. The two men smiled at each other.

"Lily asked me to give you this," James reached inside his jacket, an envelope coming out of it. "She found it going through her stuff."

Sirius opened the white packet carefully to not rip anything. A huge smile adorned his face as soon as he saw the picture in his hands. In focus, he saw a younger version of himself, a carefree expression on his face. By his side, stood a very beautiful ginger, her hair down, blowing with the wind. They were both laughing, their eyes closed. In the back, it was possible to see the outlines of Hogwarts in the distance. He turned the picture around and recognized Lily's handwriting.

 _Sirius,_

 _Found it while going through my school things and thought you should have this one. I'm tired of seeing your face all around my house while you have so few pictures of me. It's only fair, don't you think?_

 _Happy birthday and I hope I see you later. No excuses!_

 _Lily xx_

"Your wife loves me," he said turning his eyes back to James with a smug smile.

"Tell me about it," Potter rolled his eyes.

There was nothing to be said about it. Lily and Sirius had been friends way before she accepted going out with James. Their relationship started when they were 14, both of them too annoyed with their families. Black had been, once again, mistreated by the Blacks while the red headed woman had had another argument with her sister. The similarities between them were what brought them together, but as the time went by, they realized that their friendship was deeper than that.

They parted ways once they reached their destination. Sirius turned right and entered his office only to find a few more birthday cards in it. He went through all of them, smiling as he read the kind words of his friends and colleagues. Until he reached the last one.

It was a completely white paper, no signature, no recognizable handwriting, nothing. In it, there were just six words written in a black ink.

 _Wish you the happiest birthday ever._

If it were all that, he wouldn't give it a second thought, but there was another line under it that sent a shiver up his spine.

 _How are the girls?_


	5. Chapter 5

For days, Sirius felt like his every move was being watched. He wouldn't do anything until being 100% sure that no one was following him or that his daughters were perfectly fine. He inquired them countless time if they had seen anyone near the house or any suspicious looking person crossing their way, but they only shook their heads and looked at him worriedly.

Moments after receiving that strange card, Black went on a crusade trying to find Alya and Lyra everywhere. The blonde girl was easy to find. She was just down the hall, shoulder deep buried in paperwork she had forgotten to do and as soon as she saw her father marching up to her, she had a very clear vision of him scolding her for doing so. Alya was taken by surprise when he tackled her in a hug asking over and over again if she was fine and if anything had happened on the way over.

She had never seen him so distressed and it kind of set alarms in her mind. Had something happened that she wasn't aware of? And when he asked, his tone urgent, if she had seen Lyra, her heart started beating frantically. The girls had parted ways when they left the house. Lyra had said something about heading downtown first while Alya had gone directly to the Ministry.

That was not the answer Sirius wanted to hear, however. He let go of the blonde and ran as fast as he could, his feet thumping against the floor, all eyes averting to his direction, but he didn't stop until he reached the 9th level, his eyes looking for someone, anyone, who could tell him where his daughter was. The black-tiled walls, that seemed to faze many, did nothing to him and as soon as he went through the black door by the end of the corridor, he stopped. There were more twelve doors in front of him, but he didn't know which one to open.

Taking a deep breath, trying quiet down his shaking bones, Sirius leaned against the wall and waited for someone to cross his way. Fortunately, he only had to wait for a few minutes until his eyes met Lyra's, a worried expression adorning her face and a sudden feeling of urgency when she felt her father collide his body against her in a hug.

They were all fine, completely unharmed and out of danger. If so, what in the holy hell had that message meant?

After that day, the three of them decided it would be safer, and less stressful, if they went to the Ministry together. Alya and Lyra found it was easier to keep an eye on Sirius and prevent him from freaking out. Sirius thought it would be easier to protect them if it were necessary. The war was over, but who knew what dangers could be lurking in the next corner. But over a month went on with nothing happening. No notes, no contact, no threats showing up at all. All of a sudden, life went back to the way it was before.

Of course there were nights that even the smallest noise made Sirius jump out of the bed like it was burning his skin, his eyes wide open, hand gripping his wand tightly, heart hammering against his ribcage as his breath worked to get back to normal. He felt like he was back to the old days, a constant danger looming over his head. And that was one of those nights. His brain working fastly as he tried to figure out where the noise had come from before darting towards it.

With his senses heightened, Sirius made his way through the dark corridor in the second store of the house, his feet light against the floor, tuning in any sound that could be made. There was nothing, not even the light snores coming from Alya's room. Had he not known that whenever she was too tired she slept like a rock, he'd be worried to the point of no return, but just to make sure everything was fine, he slowly opened the door and smiled when he saw the girl was, indeed, safe and sound.

Needless to say, he couldn't go back to sleep; the tossing and turning were always too stressful for him, making every position 10 times more uncomfortable, just like his following day at work where a huge pile of paper needed his undivided attention, even if his mind was set on spacing out and his eyes not focusing.

"You have a minute?" James asked suddenly, his head poking through Sirius' office door, a small smile on his face. Black just nodded, his head finally looking up, his back relaxed against his chair as soon as his best friend walked in. He needed a real distraction at that moment. "Two things," the Potter man started. "First of all, you look like crap. I know you've got a lot on your mind right now, but let's be honest here: it's taking a huge toll on you."

Sirius let out a deep sigh and shook his head. He was tired of having people saying he should relax and let go, and while he did want that to happen, his mind wouldn't let him.

"I know you're worried, Padfoot, and so am I," James started once again, sitting in front of his friend, a concerned look in his face. "But believe me when I say it, once more: there wasn't anyone following you and/or the girls. I've personally back tracked every move you've made the past weeks and that note wasn't sent by any Death Eater or former Voldemort follower."

"Then who would've sent this?" Sirius asked, his hands running through his hair and pulling at the roots. He didn't know what to believe anymore. He, so desperately, wanted everything to go back to normal, like he and everyone he knew deserved. They had gone through enough already.

"I don't know," James admitted with a shrug. All kind of investigation they could have thought of led to nothing. As far as they were concerned, it was a sincere birthday wish from someone they didn't know and nothing else. "And I don't think you should dwell too much on it, Sirius. Let's just make sure the protection spells around your house are working properly and move on, my friend."

Sirius nodded. He knew James wouldn't just say those things to make him feel better. If he had led the investigation and come to the conclusion that no one was after him and his family, then it was the truth.

"What's your second thing?" he asked, finally letting go.

"Oh, here's the newspaper you asked me," James said as he dumped a thick stack of paper on the wood desk, moving pictures scattered the front page. "And I'm not your secretary, mate. Next time, you go pick it up by yourself."

Sirius looked from James to the newspaper in front of him a few times, confusion adorning his features. For starters, he had no idea what James was talking about; he hadn't asked for anything. Second, he couldn't read a single word written.

"What's that?" his eyes darted to the man in front of him, seriously doubting his sanity.

"What do you mean?" James shot back. "It's the Brazilian wizarding newspaper you asked me. You know, from the note you left in my desk."

For a brief moment, both men looked at each other intently, trying to understand what kind of exchange had happened. Neither of them, however, had the time to say anything as there was another knock on the door and in went Shacklebolt, his tall figure filling the room.

"Bad timing?" the Minister asked looking between the two friends, his eyes landing on the newspaper on the desk. "Oh, do you mind…?"

Sirius picked it up and gave it to the man without a single thought. If he knew what any of that said, maybe it could help them figuring out what the hell was going on in that Department, where notes seemed to come from nowhere.

"Why would I ask you for that, James?" Sirius finally asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "It's not like I speak Portuguese."

"You went to Brazil a couple of times," James shrugged. "I figured you did…"

It was insane. Nothing made sense anymore. James swore that was what the note asked for while Sirius swore he left no note at all. And even if he did, why would he even ask for a foreign newspaper? Diplomacy was not one of his concerns and he didn't know anything about the wizarding community in Brazil other than the school they attended to was in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest.

"As I imagined," Shacklebolt said folding the paper in two. Both men looked at him curiously and he just shook his head. "Just talking to myself." He dismissed. "They're having some problems with deforestation in the Amazon, each time they're getting closer and closer to Castelobruxo's grounding."

James and Sirius just kept staring at the man. If there was anyone who needed to know a bit about problems from other countries, it would be Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister for Magic of the United Kingdom.

* * *

The buzz from the pub was welcomed by the group of people that entered the Three Broomsticks that Saturday afternoon. After a long day of work and studies, they could finally relax and enjoy some free time.

All around the bar, there could be seen dozens of students talking and laughing, everything to get away from the school work they had on the back of their minds. Each table held a different conversation, some a bit more contained, others louder. Madame Rosmerta rushed behind the counter, doing her best to serve everyone. To say that the bar was packed, was an understatement. Some had courage enough to form a line outside, but no one seemed to be in a hurry to leave the cozy atmosphere.

In one corner in particular, a double table was being used by none other than Harry Potter. Even though his days as the Wizarding World Saviour were long gone, people still seemed to pine over him, trying any kind of interaction with the black haired young man and despite him not liking that kind of attention, all his friends bugged him about it.

That day was not different. Everywhere they had gone, there seemed to be a lot of people following his every move, even more now that he had defeated Voldemort. For those who spent six years with him in Hogwarts, Harry wasn't much of an attraction anymore.

"They'll get over it," Harry had said with a shrug as they walked down the main street of Hogsmeade, but a few hours had gone since then and nothing had happened.

At that moment, in the pub, they were finally able to talk to each other without having anyone gawking at them. It should be considered a miracle.

"I'm telling you," a red-headed girl said, her arms going everywhere. Maybe she had had too much Butterbeer so far. "Having people stopping you in the middle of the hallway to ask you what it's like to be Harry Potter's sister is not something you'd want." Her green eyes glistened, unfocusing.

Lyra, by the girl's side, took a hold of her drink and pushed it away only to be stopped by the younger Potter.

"I think you've had enough, Ivy," she said with a smile, trying to not start anything. Ivy Potter had always been a good girl, perfect grades, impeccable behavior, but she couldn't deny the fact that she was Lily Evans' daughter: her fierce attitude and sharp tongue made sure of that. Being three years younger than her worldwide famous brother wasn't much of a problem. She never cared about the attention, anyway. All she ever wanted was to be her own person and live her own life without having others around her, watching her every move.

With a single nod, the girl agreed and let Lyra take the bottle away from her. She was aware of her drinking limit and she was not going to push it.

From the other side of the table, Alya laughed at the girl, shaking her head slightly. She really wanted to see how far Ivy would have gone and how crazy she would've been. That would be a sight for sore eyes.

"Well, at least people don't stop you to ask of your dad is having an off day." The blonde girl mumbled. She had tried to act nonchalantly, but everyone could see she was worried. One look at any of the twins and it was noticeable.

"About that," Harry started gaining the attention of everyone in the table. "What is actually going on with him? I think I've never seem Sirius so distressed in all my life."

"I don't know," the girl said with a sigh. "I guess all the stress he suppressed all these years is finally catching up on him," she shook her head.

"Like some kind of PTSD?" Hermione asked from her end, earning a handful of confused looks. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" she clarified. The whole Wizarding World really needed to catch on mental health.

"It's possible," John chimed in from beside Lyra. He had thought about it himself, but never felt comfortable enough bringing it up, not because he felt like he didn't have that kind of closeness with the Black family, but because he was aware that not everyone was able to understand it. "I mean, he has been living through traumatic events after traumatic events."

And the tension in the table was finally present. It was thick and palpable, noticeable for anyone paying the slightest attention to where the group of friends was sitting.

"What are you trying to imply?" Alya asked, her eyes squinting, her tone sharp.

"Nothing," John shot back, his eyes dancing around. That was what he was trying to avoid. "I'm not implying anything, Alya, but isn't it just how it has been his whole life?"

The girl looked at him dead in the eye for a few moments. He could say all he wanted, swear he wasn't implying anything, but she couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was judging whatever it was that Sirius was going through and she was tired; tired of people looking at him suspiciously, like he'd lost his mind, like he was wasting time and resources on his illusions.

"Look," she started once again, everyone holding their breaths in anticipation. "You can say all you want, Lupin, but once you start talking about my dad, don't expect me to keep it to myself. My dad _is not_ one of those crazy people that should be locked away in St. Mungus. He's perfectly fine the way he is and I'm not going to let you say anything like that again, you hear me?"

All eyes seemed to be moving from Alya to John. Everyone knew they had never had the best relationship ever, but that small argument between them was something else; John didn't know what to do. He had not meant anything of the sorts of Alya's speech. He was well aware that Sirius was a very lucid person, healthy and perfectly mental capable. Perhaps he shouldn't have said anything. People still didn't understand that a normal person could suffer from any kind of mental illness.

"Aly, I don't think that's what he meant," Lyra started with a sigh. She was the first one to say anything, all the attention turned to her.

"Are you going to defend him?" The blonde's eyes widened, her head shaking in disbelief.

"I'm not defending anyone, Aly," her twin had now crossed her arms over her chest, not believing Alya could be so narrow-minded. "No one said anything about dad being crazy, ok? You're, as always, jumping to conclusions. Dad did grow up in an abusive home, he lost mom, he lost friends and spent a whole year on the run, never knowing where he'd be by the end of the day. Those kind of things leave scars in a person."

No one knew what to say. All eyes were averted to the table top, breaths the only sound heard around them. In a split second, Alya got up from her chair, the wood scrapping against the floor causing all eyes to look at her, and darted from the pub. Lyra, on the other hand, just watched as her sister walked away from them, no looking back, as if she had stabbed her.

* * *

The sun was shining mercilessly with not a single cloud in the sky, but it wasn't enough to get the people out of the street; it was mid-December and the countdown to Christmas was coming to an end faster than anything. Up and down, it was possible to see people carrying countless bags in their hands, something usual for the biggest shopping area in Latin America.

São Paulo was the biggest city throughout the country and that street in particular, 25 de Março, was known for all the goods that were sold for a very lower price than anywhere else. It was why it looked almost like an anthill, full of people from all around after gifts for the whole family, most likely.

And despite the hot weather and the pushes and shoves, there was a figure dressed in a black hoodie, their head down, walking hurriedly through the mass of people, body almost pressed against the wall, avoiding any kind of physical contact. The figure turned right, exiting the busy street, and kept walking without looking back until it finally reached the Mercado Municipal – known to the locals as Mercadão -, an old building that ever since 1933 worked as a warehouse. It wasn't much better than the streets when it came to the number of people in there, but at least you could hide from the sun.

The figure, once again, walked mindlessly through the aisles until stopping in one in particular, in the far end of the building. It was possible to see another person in front of them, a black mop of hair peeking out from the white cap.

" _Conseguiu?_ " the new person asked. It was possible to hear a faint accent in the tone, something that was not surprise to the hooded person, who just nodded their head and smiled.

" _Foi um pouco mais difícil dessa vez, mas deu tudo certo._ "

The person in the white cap smiled, their hand reaching inside their jeans pocket and pulling out some crumbled bills and gave it to their hooded friend.

" _Daqui dois dias no Brás_ ," White Cap murmured before walking away.

* * *

 _("Did you do it?"_

 _"It was a little harder this time, but everything turned out fine."_

 _"In two days at Brás")_


	6. Chapter 6

It's funny how history repeats itself. That was what John thought to himself as soon as he entered his room that Christmas' Eve and came face to face with a very deep in thought Lyra Black. She was sitting on his bed, her feet dangling from the side, her hands supporting her weight back, her head tilted back and eyes closed. She looked worried, stressed and full of everything surrounding her. There was a party going on downstairs, but all she wanted was to be by herself for the time being.

And that was what triggered John's memory, reminding him of the time it had been him on her place, the first Christmas he had to go through without his mom. He felt so overwhelmed, so sick of everyone trying to act like nothing was wrong and giving him reassuring looks that all he wanted to do was being alone.

 _The festive decoration was set up everywhere; there was mistletoe in almost every doorway, enchanted snow falling from the ceiling and people enjoying themselves. Nothing was left behind: there were food, drinks and even videogames for those who wanted and knew how to play it._

 _John Lupin was oblivious to all that, though. He didn't notice the music blasting through the speakers, not even the happy looks everyone had on. He overlooked all of it; neglecting everything which could possibly make him feel a little better._

 _He didn't want to think about any of this, about how he felt completely hopeless and the days that would come without his mom by his side. It was impractical, though, as every single detail of his daily routine reminded him of her, her warming smile, her kind eyes and the soft tone she used when she needed to comfort him._

 _That Christmas party was the main reason why John spent the most of the night on his own, outside the Black's house, sitting on a chaise longue next to the pool. When he heard the door being opened, he flinched in surprise, but didn't turn to face whoever was._

 _"Holy shit, it's freaking cold out here." He heard as soon as the door was closed._

 _Instantly, a small smile appeared on his lips and John unconsciously straightened up his posture on the chair, looking up at Lyra as she approached him._

 _"Hey." He muttered when she sat by his side – way too close, with her leg touching his entirely._

 _She ignored his greeting. "Why are you here?"_

 _John shrugged and looked away from her. "I don't know. I guess I don't want to celebrate anything."_

 _He heard her sighing deeply by his side and felt her hand seizing his knee, slightly. "I don't want it either, but you shouldn't isolate yourself from me, John."_

 _"I am not isolating myself, Lya." He shook his head. "I just want to stay away from it all. I'm not in a party mood."_

 _"Are you ever?" she gave him a small smile which he reattributed, but not for long. "John, listen up: I know you miss her. Believe me, I miss her too, like crazy. I know things are changing pretty fast and this is getting pretty fucked up, but you shouldn't be here by yourself." Lyra said and placed her other hand on his cheek, locking her eyes on his. "Everyone is in there, having a good time and wondering where you are. Alya is an exception, but she's trying to overcome her issues towards you."_

 _"She is not." John chuckled a bit and nodded._

 _"She's just jealous of you because you're my best friend, but we're not discussing this right now. Let's focus on what I'm trying to say."_

 _"Which is…?" he raised his eyebrows at her._

 _"Come with me and stay with all of us for the rest of the night." She pouted. "Please."_

 _John took a good look at the back yard before glaring at her once again. "I don't know."_

 _"I promise I won't get you drunk this time." Lyra chuckled a bit with the memory of the last time she tried to take John to a party with her._

 _"Oh wow, I feel calmer now." He joked and smiled a bit._

 _"Hey, that's good. You weren't even smiling when I came over here." She poked him on the side with her elbow. "Come on in with me. Please."_

 _The boy didn't move and Lya poked him once again on his shoulder with her index finger. "Please, John. I won't leave your side."_

 _He took a deep breath and nodded with his head. "Okay." He answered, simply, and stood up._

 _He offered one of his hands to her and Lyra took it, getting on her feet by his side. Before he could let go of her and walk up to the house, though, she stood on his personal space, toe to toe, with her entire body towards him. She looked up at him with a small and atypical shy smile up on her face and a suspicious brightness on her eyes. The brunette girl cupped his face with both of her hands and got on the tip of her toes; her stormy blue eyes locked on his hazel ones._

 _"I want to give you a little gift before we get in." She whispered. "I want you to hold on to this when you think of this year, okay? Get rid of all the rest and keep only the good memories you, me and… this kiss."_

 _Lyra closed the distance between them and captured his lips with hers, tenderly. Her hands shyly made their way to his hair, grasping it strongly as if she had waited way too long to do it, as she felt John's arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her closer. She let out a low sigh when she felt his taste of peppermint chocolate coffee inside her mouth and quickly made the kiss into a make out._

 _John's heart was racing way too fast, his hands grasping her floral dress tightly and his head was completely and entirely empty; there was not a single thing on his mind, not even the absence of his mom or the days to come, not even his worries about his father crossed his mind as he seized Lyra on his arms. Suddenly she was everything and John realized with no surprise, he'd rather her to be nothing else._

Much like how she had done to him years back, John walked up to the girl, his body standing directly in front of her before she realized someone else had entered the room. In the dim light, he took the time to study her features, her eyelashes gently touching her cheeks, the small wrinkles on her forehead indicating she was deep in thought and, therefore, oblivious to the world around her; her beautiful blue eyes rolling behind her closed eyelids and every single imperfection she could ever have. John didn't care about those; those were part of who Lyra was and he was madly deeply in love with her, all flaws aside.

With a small sigh, he sat by her side on the bed, the matress dipping and finally making the girl realize she wasn't alone anymore. Had it been any other person, she'd probably skin them alive, but she knew there was only one person crazy enough to disturb her. Lyra opened her eyes, a small smile played on her lips as soon as she caught sight of John leaning against his left side, taking a better look at her.

"Why are you here?" he was holding back a chuckle and suddenly the same memory rushed back to her mind, her eyes lighting up.

"I don't know," she replied. "I guess I don't want to celebrate anything."

Both of them looked at each other, their smiles getting bigger as soon as that small exchanged happened. It was a really important memory. It was when they finally realized how much they meant to each other, but it was also the moment where the awkwardness had started. For what felt like a really long time, they didn't know how to act around each other, only making it more obvious to everyone else how deeply they had feelings for one another. Thank Merlin they had overcome that.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Lyra glanced around and nodded. She wanted to talk about everything that had been going on, she only didn't know how to begin. She desperately wanted for everything to be over, she thought everything would go back to normal as soon as the war had ended, but that was when she realized how naïve she had been; things would never go back to the normal. She didn't even know what being normal felt like, never had.

She never met her mom and sometimes she wanted to blame it on Marlene, as it would be easier to feel anger towards her. Why had she gone to visit her family that night? Why didn't she stay hidden like the rest of them? Why did she leave them? Why did she leave emher/em? And then, as if losing her real mother wasn't enough, she lost the closest second mother figure she ever had. Of course she would always have Lily to turn to, but Dorcas was the one who always seemed to understand her the best, knowing exactly what kind of things she needed to hear. Growing up hadn't been easy, but she had managed it even with all the barriers life had thrown at her.

Then why now that everything should be going smoothly, why now did everything have to go tumbling down once more?

Instead of voicing all her thoughts, she just smiled sadly at John, tucking her legs under her and leaning her head against his chest, listening intently to the sound of his heart beating against his ribcage, syncing her breaths with his. John circled his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, their bodies touching entirely, no movements being made except for the rise and fall of their chests.

They couldn't tell exactly how much time they spent on that position; it could have been minutes or hours, immersed in the presence of each other, taking solace from their rhythmically synced heart beats, as if they were one.

"I don't know what else to think," was the first thing Lyra said, her voice no louder than a whisper. She unleashed herself out of his warm hug and looked at his eyes, her stormy blue eyes meeting his peaceful whiskey-colored ones.

"About what?"

"About everything," she sighed. "All I see is my dad trying to live his life as if nothing had ever happened to him, but at the same time I can see how he's feeling like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. To top it all, there're all these people looking at him and thinking he's finally losing it. And what if he is? What if he's gone so into this post-traumatic thing you were talking about that now he can't turn back?" Her breaths came out uneven, her eyes red from holding back tears.

John took a deep breath and pulled her into him again, his hand going up and down her back in a soothing way. He couldn't remember a time where she had felt so helplessly like that. She always had been the strong one, the one to pull him back together. At that moment, he silently made a promise to never let her feel that way again.

"He can turn back, babe," John more whispered than anything. "Your dad only needs help and support. You remember when my mom died and I had those horrible panic attacks where I'd wake up screaming in the middle of the night?" she nodded. "And how I got better with the right kind of help and support from everyone?" when she nodded again, he smiled. "That's what your dad needs right now. All kind of help, all kind of support and some distraction. I don't know, but maybe he needs some long and well deserved vacation."

Lyra looked at her boyfriend in awe. She was never disappointed in trusting on him with her problems. He always seemed to know what to say or how to act, something that never ceased to amaze the girl.

"How do you do it" she was looking up at him, her eyes glistening.

"Do what?"

"You always know what to say to make me feel better," she smiled. "Every time."

"And here was I thinking that you're the one who always say the right thing to pull me back together," John chuckled. There was no denying that those two completed each other. It was visible to anyone who took the smallest look at them.

Smiling inwardly, Lyra reached up and sat down on the bed before straddling the boy, her arms snaking around his neck as his hands rested on her waist.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he whispered back, his head leaning in, his lips slightly brushing against hers before she took advantage of her position and captured his lips, her hands, as always, grasping his hair as if it were what she needed to keep herself grounded.

* * *

John was right. All Sirius needed was involved taking a few days off and some distraction. That was why Lyra and Alya were always locked away in their rooms, whispering back and forth, trying to come up with a plan to – finally - find a girlfriend for their dad. They had been pushing it aside for too long and now they couldn't hold it back anymore.

Of course Sirius continued oblivious to all of that. Sure, he suspected something was going on between the girls, but he figured it must have been a girl problem or something else, something that he couldn't be of help.

"Ok, so you think any of these would go out with him?" Alya asked looking down at the list of names they had written down. She couldn't deny that they had come up with a good quantity of names.

"Are you kidding me?" Lyra rolled her eyes. "Have you seen the way women look at him when he walks by? Dad hasn't lost his charm yet."

Both girls looked at each other and shook their heads, laughing. They were well aware that Sirius Black made heads turn in his direction whenever he entered a room. Hell, they even had a few friends at Hogwarts who became all giggly when he was around. To them, it was the worst part of it all.

"Ok, but we've got to choose one," Aly sighed, her eyes running down the piece of parchment she held in her hands. "Cut off the ones after his status, get rid of the gold-diggers and, finally, find someone who's not in it just for his looks."

It was a hard work; one that took them more than a few days to watch every woman in the list they had come up with until, at last, there was only one name left.

"You know her?" Lya asked as she walked down the atrium towards the elevator.

"Yeah, she works with Mr. Weasley," Aly explained following her sister. "She's nice. We've talked a few times."

"And where do you know her from?"

"Well, my line of work involves me getting in touch with other people, unlike some others who won't tell anyone what they do," she shot back with a roll of eyes. Alya Black had always been a curious person and not knowing what happened in the Department of Mysteries killed her inside.

The twins reached the Office for Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects and looked around, noticing how everyone in there seemed to be busy making sure that even the smallest item wasn't disrupting several laws.

They stood there for about two minutes before someone noticed their presence, walking up to them with a smile.

"Alya, hey." A brunette woman said, her smile reaching her green eyes easily. Her body came to a halt when she got closer to the girls, looking from one to the other. "Oh, you must be Lyra," she reached her hand out, surprising the Black girl a little. "Nice to meet you."

Lyra shook her hand awkwardly. She wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. She wasn't expecting anyone to see them standing there while spying on the nice lady in front of her, but it didn't stop her from doing it. While Alya talked to the woman about something they should be discussing previously, Lyra took her time to analyze her.

She seemed genuinely interested on what Alya was going on about, her eyes never moving sideways, focusing solely on what she was being told. It happened for as long as the blonde girl talked. Maybe Lyra really wanted it to work out, but it seemed like, so far, Karen Flynn was being the best choice.

Almost ten minutes later, the girls said goodbye to the woman and made their way back to where they had come from, Alya waiting until they were entirely out of earshot to then look at Lyra, a hopeful expression on her face.

"I guess," Lyra said with a shrug.

"You guess?" Alya crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her sister. "Did you miss the part where she asked how dad was going and looked really concerned about him? Not fake concerned, but really concerned."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to anything you were saying," it was Lyra's turn to roll her eyes. "But if you're saying that's how it went, then I believe you."

The girls entered the elevator and pressed the button to the second level with a smile on their faces. They had found the perfect match. Now they needed to work around Sirius Black and set those two up.


	7. Chapter 7

For weeks, Alya and Lyra felt like tipping on their toes whenever they were around Sirius. They didn't want him to get suspicious, but at the same time they couldn't avoid him if the plan was to work. Because it had to work. Not only Sirius would get off their backs for a little bit, he'd also have someone new in his life, someone to share the burden he seemed to carry on his shoulders, someone to distract him when he needed. It was a long shot for it to happen in their first try, but the girls had hopes.

As January rolled over, Sirius found himself involved in more internal work than ever. Whenever Alya was in a case, she'd ask him to supervise her, something that Sirius liked quite a bit, if he were to admit. He liked the idea of spending time with his daughter, he liked thinking that she was trying to follow his steps and, obviously, he had no idea that she, in fact, was, but she also had other plans for the man.

Sirius was the kind of person who grew up to be suspicious of a lot of things, to trust his senses above all, but he had such a soft spot when it came to certain people that he just couldn't help himself but trust them blindly. Sure, he'd been a little bit more cautious after what had happened with Peter - something he didn't even like to think about - but there was no way he wouldn't trust his own daughters. They were always up for a little mischief and some crazy plans, but he was the same when he was their age. And, in the end, they meant no harm at all.

The day had started off like any other with him walking up to his office, greeting someone every now and then. The Ministry had been crazy for the following months after the war, with people still missing and employees scared of going back after all the changes that had occured when Voldemort was behind the power. But, finally, everything was going back to the normal, slowly, but it was. Some of the workers still seemed a bit unease being around those walls, seeing all the Heads of Departments walking around as if just waiting for them to snap and bring those ways back into action.

Sirius wanted to make sure that whoever worked with him, didn't have anything to be afraid of. That was why he kept the cordial face all the time, the smile whenever he passed anyone by or the greet upon his lips as he ran into any of them. So far, it had been working.

Everything seemed to be in place as Sirius walked into the department, but with close inspection he noticed there was a familiar brunette head in the far corner, her posture slouched, eyes roaming around the room trying to find some recognizable face while biting her nails away. He approached the woman with a smile, as always, carefully to not startle her.

"Karen," he said when he was close enough. "Good morning. You're looking for Aly?"

Karen focused her wide eyes on the man in front of her, her hand snapping back to the side her body, ashamed she had been caught in such a terrible habit, and smoothed her navy-blue pencil skirt. She knew who he was and how important he was. Why had she chosen the early hours to look for Alya if she would have the risk to run into Sirius Black?

The woman coughed awkwardly, straightning her back and shaking her head. Why did she have to be such a mess? Arthur said she had to work her social skills, but she never really took much concern into it. Maybe he was right, she thought to herself as she looked at the man in front of her, her mind completely blank to what he had asked her. It was like she saw his lips moving, his voice coming out of his throat, but yet, she couldn't understand a word. It happened fairly often when she was face to face with someone important.

Sirius took his time, noticing how the woman had reacted. She was caught off guard by him, so it was better if he waited until she could say anything before pressing her. It amused him, however, to see someone acting like that. She wasn't new to the work in the Ministry, that he was aware of, so she certainly had met others head of department, but even so, she seemed to be in some kind of debate with her own mind, as if being next to someone who had a superior post made her feel worried. Sirius chuckled inwardly as he watched Karen finally come to her senses, her breath working as her voice found its way out of her chest.

"I'm sorry," she said with a small smile, her cheeks tinted in a deep red. "Yes, I'm looking for Aly, she said she had some news about the case I called her for…?"

Sirius nodded, waiting for her to keep saying whatever it was, but when he realized that was all she had, he looked around, trying to find anything that Alya could have possibly left for the woman. He sighed walking to the girl's desk. It was a mess of papers, quills and ink, much like her room seemed to be like when she was in Hogwarts and had holiday homework to do. Carefully, he arranged throughout the messy space, looking for anything that could be of help.

It took him a while, but he finally found a folder with everything regarding the case Alya was on, but that one, specifically, he didn't know much about. His eyes scanned across the notes she had left, her neat handwritting smudging in the end due to her haste, reading everything he could and trying to find anything he could say to the woman in front of him. Sirius sighed and shook his head.

"Can you come back later?" his eyes turned to her. "I'll go over these, because Alya won't be around today. She's got a lecture."

And so it went. Sirius spent the entire morning going over a minor case, something he hadn't even been involved in at first, pushing aside everything else he had just to get it over with. He thought it was a good gesture, helping out Arthur's department as they had been friends for long years, but there was this small voice, at the back of his mind, telling him that was not only it. Karen had seemed to lost and small leaning against the wall that morning that he couldn't shake the feeling that she was intimidated by him. So, if he worked closer to her, he'd show the woman she had nothing to fear. He was a nice guy, right?

As the days turned into weeks and Alya had more and more time to devote to the courses she had been slacking to, indeed, become an Auror, Sirius Black took lead in everything she had been doing, even the smallest cases that seemed to pop ou from the Office for Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. It seemed like now that the wizarding community wasn't under the threat of Voldemort, they seemed more and more eager to show themselves to the Muggles. Lots of objects seemed to be enchanted, roaming around the Muggle streets threatening them into exposure. The people down at the Office had been going through a lot of work and some of them needed the help of Aurors, due to their, let's say, investigative skills.

The fact that Sirius had dived head first into that - and consequently spending more time with a specific brunette - did not go unnoticed by none less than James Potter as he watched his best friend lean over the table, trying to find any pattern to follow. He smirked inwardly, his eyes turning to Alya, who was at the office at that time, and gave her a knowingly glare, smiling at her and shaking his head. He had caught on what Lyra and Alya were up to and he couldn't emnot/em like it. So many years had gone since Sirius had someone in his life, it was finally time to move on.

* * *

The girls couldn't stop smiling around the house as they saw their plan working perfectly, each new day leading into a new scheme that only resulted in more progress. When they first started thinking about a way to get Sirius to date again, they weren't sure it was going to work, but seeing him smiling more often than not, singing under his breath and - finally - not buzzing too much into their personal lives, they couldn't believe it was actually happening.

The next step was a bit harder, though. Sirius had spent too much time chatting with Karen, but things hadn't gone farther than that yet and it was driving them a little worried. What if he never asked her out or anything? That would jeopardize the whole plan and that was why Lyra had convinced her dad that going out with some of his friends was the right thing to do on a Friday night, after an eventful week.

The man, of course, didn't seem suspicious of anything and agreed to that, hurrying to invite everyone he knew. What he wasn't aware of (but the girls were) was that in that same night, everyone had something to do, from going out with their spouse to baby sitting their nephew. No matter how many people Sirius called, all of them had some kind of plan for the night.

Casually, Alya walked up to her father, a frown on her face as she looked at the man, trying to come up with a excuse.

"Hey, dad," she started as if the thought had just occured to her. "Aren't you friends with Karen? Why don't you ask her? I mean… You two having been stressing over that case for what feels like forever. You deserve some treat."

Sirius looked at the girl and thought for a couple of minutes. Yeah, they had become quite close being bent over the table and looking at countless pieces of parchments trying to solve a case that seemed to be unsolved, so why not? Maybe a few bottles of butterbeer and doses of Firewhiskey would help them to clear their minds.

It wasn't much of a surprise when, half an hour later, Sirius walked out of the house leaving the two girls smiling widely, like kids on a Christmas morning upon seeing all the gifts that were left for them under the tree. If they didn't think it was a bit too much, they'd be dancing all around the living room, but they couldn't get their hopes up so much. Yes, he had taken the bait, but it would be a long ride until he finally went all out and started dating someone.

They didn't have much to be done now. It was a Friday night, but everyone they were related to seemed to take the day to just chill and stay in, something they thought about doing as well; there was a lot of movies they wanted to watch and what a greater time than being home alone to watch all those scary movies Muggles seemed so afraid of?

The light in the living room was set dimly, the curtains drawn blocking their view from the rain that had started to pour outside, and Lyra had come out from the kitchen holding a big bowl of popcorn, placing it on the candy-filled coffee table. The night was going to be a blast.

Not too long into the second movie, however, Alya sighed deeply, her eyes turning to her sister, whose face sported a bored expression. They hadn't been entertained in the last bit. Something about it all seemed fake, the special effects looked poorly done or the story just wasn't too scary. They lived in a world where ghosts, ghouls, vampires, poltergeist and werewolves were real. Not to mention the fact that they were witches. Watching a movie where a witch was the villain wasn't too scary.

What they didn't expect, though, was for the spirit in the movie, all contorted and looking a lot like the Dark Lord himself, show up so close to the tv screen at that moment, just as a thunder cracked loudly outside and the front door opened with a loud bang a drenched figure coming through it as drops of water trickled to the ground. Needless to say, the twins let out a shrill scream, popcorn flying around the living room while they were searching for their wands, lost in the cushions.

The black figure kept walking into the house, their hand reaching out for the wall, only to connect it to the light switch and turn it on, displaying an unamused Sirius Black, wet from head to toe, a puddle forming at his feet as he stood in the entrance of the living room, his eyes going from one girl to the other, their eyes wide open in fear, their hands tucked into the cushions of the couch and their breaths ragged.

"Yeah, that wasn't the welcome I was expecting either," he sounded profundly irritated and maybe, just maybe, the girls thought, it had nothing to do with the littered living room, but the rain outside drenching him to the bones.

Once the girls' heart seemed to go back ot its normal pace, they both hurried to make the room a habitable enviroment again, rushing to put everything back in its place as they watched their father go to the upper level of the house to change into dry clothes, coming back down a few minutes later, only to find his daughters whispering to each other by the kitchen door.

He walked up to them, rolling his eyes when they stopped talking and looked at him with pointed looks, as if him being home was something he had done wrong.

"What are you doing here?" Alya shot straight at the man, her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapping against the tiled floor. It would be comic if Sirius didn't find it slightly disrespectful.

"Why? Can't I be in my own house?" he asked back, not understanding what was the matter.

"Of course you can," Lyra interfered, a small smile on her lips, trying to ease down the tension. "We're just wondering why you're back so early. You seemed excited to go out earlier."

Sirius shrugged, his feet leading him into the kitchen, walking around aimlessly, picking the most random objects only to put it right back down without further inspection. "It felt weird," he rambled.

Alya and Lyra looked at each other, concern written all over their faces and approached the man who had stopped in front of the marble sink top and looked at his feet.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know," he shrugged once again. "It just felt weird, like it was a wrong thing to be doing, you know?"

"Ok, but dad," Lyra started, her hands reaching out for her father's. "What's wrong with Karen?"

"Nothing's wrong with her," was the quick answer Sirius shot, his dry throat kind of betraying him.

"Then why are you not out with her?" Alya inquired, still not getting how he could have ended the night to soon. It had everything to go right. They were getting along just fine for the past weeks, some eventual joke here and there.

"I just don't want to."

His behavior was not something erratic. He was headstrong enough to not give any kind of information if he didn't want to, but those two were exactly like him and knew when something was going on.

"Is it because of mom?" Lyra asked. Her voice was so small they could barely hear her. Marlene McKinnon was a sensitive topic around that house, which led to rare mentions of her name, but it didn't take much to realize it was the problem at hand.

"Dad…" Alya sighed. "Let's be real here. You're not getting any younger. You might have had your charm back in the old days, but those days are soon to be gone. Just think it through."

The silence in the room was palpable. As it had always happened before, Alya had said the right thing in the wrong way. She didn't have the patience to approach it slowly, but it didn't mean she meant any harm and Sirius was well aware of that. That was why he chose to just shake his head at the girl, trying to contain the smile that threatened to form in his lips.

"Ok, Aly, that's not the way we were going for," Lyra sighed, her back straghtening and eyes rolling. "Dad, don't you think it's been a long while since you last had a relationship?"

"You two don't understand-"

"We get it," the brunette twin interrupted. "You loved mom, but she's dead, dad. For the past seventeen years. And I know it sucks, because if it does for me and Aly, I can only imagine how it feels for you, but you have to move on."

"I can't just move on, Lyra," he sighed, his head shaking trying to avert the tears that had seemed to find its way to his glossy eyes. "It's not that easy. As much as I appreciate you two wanting me to get back out there, I can't. I loved your mother. More than I could have ever loved anyone else and that's something, because, for so long, I thought I wasn't the type to find someone, get settled and start a family, but I wanted all that when I finally realized how I felt about her and that makes me think I won't love anyone else, ever, because she was the only one who ever made me feel this way."

This time, the tears had found its way out, at last.


	8. Chapter 8

**February 1979**

The sun was shinning mercilessly, punishing whoever was under it, which was pretty much everyone sat by the sand in the beautiful landscape that the Copacabana Beach offered. The waves were washing away the shore, splashing everyone in the water who was trying to ease the heat down. It seemed like it was the hottest day of the year and there was no forecast of it going away any time soon.

From the chaise lounge positioned directly under the sun with nothing to provide pretection from the rays, Marlene McKinnon slid her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose, checking the people around her, staring at some random brunette. Her tanned body, long legs, thin waist and large hips made sure to attract all the eyes to her, but it was quite common in the sunny Rio de Janeiro, full of beautiful women with amazing bodies. Marlene was never the one to feel insecure about her body, but seeing that other woman stare at her boyfriend - wait, husband now - made her blood boil. How dared she stare at Sirius like he was the eighth wonder in the world?

The brunette finally noticed the blonde girl sat by the man she was eyeing for the past couple of minutes and grimaced. Of course someone like him would be accompanied by a blonde bimbo, much like every other gringo she had ever seen around the beach. It was always like that, to be honest. If they weren't with someone, they were alone looking for someone, preferably a Brazilian. The thing is… That one had intrigued her the most, with his eyes covered by the sunglasses, keeping his eyes on the horizon, not paying much attention to anyone else as his hands always found a way, a moment, to touch the woman by his side. Sometimes, it was almost imperceptible, with his fingers reaching out slowly, pratically as if it was a forbidden touch. Other times, he was less gentle, verging ruthlessness, with his full hand grazing the woman's tigh, leaving a red trail on her white skin. But even so, she didn't look away from him nor paid attention to the golden ring on his left hand and only averted her eyes when the blonde by his side moved down her sunglasses, icy-blue meeting her warm chocolate eyes, and glared at her.

Sirius watched all that with a smirk on his face and tried to contain a laugh from escape through his mouth. Ever since they stepped in the city he had been dealing with men looking at Marlene and he was trying his best to not do anything to them, like, maybe, a hex or something of the sorts; it would only bring him a lot of trouble with the Wizarding community in Brazil and, as a Ministry worker back in the UK, it would involve a lot of diplomatic talks, something he was not so fond of. So he chose to keep his cool and curse all the men mentally, while throwing them dirty looks as he walked down the streets, his hands grasping Marlene's tightly.

"Why did we come here?" she asked out of nowhere, her eyes finally moving back to the blue ocean in front of them. That was a sight that neither could get enough.

"You wanted to see how Carnival is," Sirius chuckled, his arms folding behind his head. "Regretting your decision?"

"Not as much as the next woman who looks at you will regret making that decision," she threatened the air.

Once again, Sirius couldn't fight back the smirk on his face, enjoying too much how jealous she was. Their relationship had always based off the principle of trust, of course, and despite them knowing that one would never cheat on the other, they couldn't help the distaste and sense of property over the other whenever someone as much as looked their way. It was almost an unspoken rule that reigned their, now, marriage.

Marlene rolled her eyes and shook her head, barely believing that was the man she chose to spend the rest of her life with. There were moments she just wanted to reach her hands around his neck and choke him to death, but she was sure the feeling was mutual. Once again, she drifted her eyes to the scene in front of her, dozens of people walking up and down the shoreline, enjoying the free days they got for the biggest holiday the country had. It was curious seeing how everyone seemed so carefree and happy, not a worry in their minds, only enjoying the beach, the sun, the sand beneath their feet and nothing else.

The day went without much else happening. They were too lazy to move around, using the excuse they'd be there for three more days and there was plenty of time to get to know the region. As the sun begun to set, they finally got up, collecting their belongings and marching back to the hotel across the street.

The Rio Othon Palace was a new hotel, being opened two years before, but it was not as imposing as the Copacabana Palace, whom, at the time, was in slowly decaying in quality. That was why they had decided staying in the first hotel, and even though a little bit saddened, it was being an amazing experience. The highest floor held a beautiful pool, giving view to all the beach and the Sugarloaf Mountain, or Morro do Pão de Açúcar, as they had learned saying it like the natives. All in all, the experience in Brazil was being a good one.

About two hours later, they were already back on the streets, trying to find the least busy location so they could Apparate to the Sambódromo and watch the parade, a must see if you're in Rio during Carnival. All the colors, the beats, the people dancing in the avenue made them feel like it was surreal, like nothing else mattered. The drums echoed inside their bodies, making it tremble and excite with each new beat. The heat hadn't gone away and, if possible, it only had become more unbearable, but not Sirius and not even Marlene cared. They were too entertained to avert their eyes from the costumes the dancers were wearing and the decorated cars.

The end of the night came all to soon. Sirius seized Marlene's hand in his and followed the mass of people walking out of the bleachers towards the exit. Sweat was dripping down their bodies, but the smile on their faces was something that would not fade away any time soon.

* * *

 **February 1999**

The sun was shinning restlessly on everyone following the trio elétrico, the heat waves seen through the concrete paradise surrouding the streets. Grey was the only color to be seen, other than the colorful outfits the mass of people were wearing, that is, and the few trees that the city hall had planted along the Paulista Avenue, but that was São Paulo. Chaotic, full of people, grey and really hot, even more in Carnival.

A young man, he couldn't be older than 17, jumped around and laughed at everyone, a few of his friends by his side, partying like they were finally free, which was slightly weird. Classes hadn't started yet, had they?

Shaking her head, trying to get rid of random thoughts, the girl who was keeping her eyes on the small group of boys made her way through the crowd, smiling at the boy in the middle. His disheveled hair was stuck to his forehead, his grey eyes glinting and a shy can of beer in his hand as he turned around to see the girl in front of him, his friends sporting sly smiles on their faces.

"Oi!*" the girl shouted over the loud music, her smile still etched on her face, her hands pushing a strand of hair behind her ears.

"Oi," the guy shouted back, his eyes falling to her level, looking her up and down, taking in the short shorts and tight tank top she was wearing. She had glitter in every corner of her face as well as her neck and her cleavage, and he was sure it was intentional and was doing its purpose: drawing the attention.

"Qual seu nome?**" she asked leaning on the tip of her toes. She was surprised he was understanding her. From his looks to his stance, she was sure wasn't Brazilian, but seeing him so close and watching him singing the songs playing, without any hint of an accent, she was sure she had been wrong.

"Gale," he said, this time lowering his head towards hers. He was so much taller he almost had to lean over the girl. It was a funny scene to whoever watched it. "E o seu?***"

"Lorena," she said with a funny smile. Maybe she hadn't been too wrong. With that name, he, at least, had to have foreign parents, but she chose not to ask. It was a personal question, something that did not go well with the time of the year and someone she had just met.

There wasn't much else to be said. The music was too loud, the people was crowding them, each time making them be closer until their bodies were touching entirely. Gale looked up at the sky, thanking whoever was up there for sending that hot girl towards him. He should be at school, in the middle of the fucking Amazon, surrounded by animals and caiporas, but he had taken the first opportunity to rushing back to São Paulo to spend the holiday, even knowing that his mom wasn't there. She was going to kill him, he was very aware of that, but, while she was away doing whatever it was that she seemed to be doing lately - and choosing not to tell him - he was going to enjoy his three days of freedom with his friends and hit every Carnival Block he could. And if with that he had the chance to meet someone, so be it.

With that in mind, the young man leaned closer to the girl, his head dropping to hers once again, eyes fluttering closed as she approached the final centimeters, her mouth meeting his in a heated kiss, not caring that she might be slightly older than him. It was Carnival. Everything was allowed.

* * *

Sirius awoke with a start. The room seemed way too bright, something he was not used to. He had gone to bed around midnight, after revising some papers Shacklebolt had asked him. Up to that moment, everything was fine and he had gone to bed after checking the protection spells surrouding the house. The lights downstairs had been turned off when Lyra went to bed, a little earlier than him, and no other source of light was on in the entire upper floor.

Stumbling from sleep, he got up and reached out for his wand, the mysterious light still shinning in his room, and went to the window, checking to see if it was any of the neighbors. What he did see, however, was something he didn't think possible.

A shimmering silver light flickered from the other side of the street, a shape coming out of it, something he was sure he was never going to see, not only in the middle of a Muggle neighborhood, but at all. Because it was a Patronus, that he was sure of and after years of seeing it being produced to say that everything was fine, Sirius would recognize it everywhere. The goddamned tabby cat with pointy ears and a fluffy tail that seemed to haunt his dreams for so long was back. And despite it seemed impossible, it was right outside his window, walking down the sidewalk in front of him, tauting him to get closer and take a look at it.

With his heart hammering, Sirius took a step back, rushed to the bathroom and washed his face fiercily. He had been dreaming. It had all been a dream and nothing else. Because he felt guilty for going out with another woman, because he felt like his chest was going to explode from missing its owner. That was it. Nothing else. It couldn't be possible.

He took a few minutes to get his breathing normal again, his eyes running all over his face to make sure he was awake now, and then made his way back to the room. The light that seemed to irradiate from his window wasn't there anymore and all that could be seen was the street light pole shinning weakly.

"It was all a dream," he murmured as he sank back in the matress. "All a dream."

In the next morning, there was no shadow of doubt that he had imagined all of it. Except that, in fact, he had not. The tabby silver cat was there last night, not haunting him, but desperatly reaching out to him.

* * *

 _*Hi_

 _**What's your name?_

 _***And yours?_


End file.
